


Stranger Things 4

by NerdysNova



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Denial of Feelings, Elmax is kinda one-sided sorry, F/F, F/M, Jealous Mike Wheeler, Jealousy, Kinda?, M/M, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-24
Updated: 2019-08-24
Packaged: 2020-09-19 09:37:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20329015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NerdysNova/pseuds/NerdysNova
Summary: Episode One - The Welcome Wagon: When the Byers return to Hawkins for winter break, strange things begin occurring around town.Episode Two: El gets Dustin to help her try to find the man from her dreams. Nancy, Jonathan, and Nick study the increasingly odd behavior of the pets in town.Episode Three: Mike confides in Max his suspicion of Nick. Suzie visits Hawkins at the least opportune moment.Episode Four: Joyce, Lucas, Max and Murray find the abandoned Russian base. Steve, Robin, and Will set up a trap for the thieves while Mike tries to expose Nick.Episode Five: Will’s urges are growing stronger... and he’s not alone. Lucas and Erica are reunited... but at what cost?Episode Six: El and Dustin get caught. Sacrifices must be made.Episode Seven: Will and El face off against the horrors of the upside down. Robin and Steve do some damage control.Episode Eight: The final battle begins. El must face the darkest parts of her past.





	Stranger Things 4

**Author's Note:**

> Just what I would do with season four if I was a duffer brother. Sadly, I am not. 
> 
> Here’s my tumblr:

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When the Byers return to Hawkins for winter break, strange things begin occurring around town.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bolded dialogue is in Russian.  
@itcouldwaysbestranger on tumblr

Somewhere in the snow covered red country, Dimitri walked along the corridor with his superior. Each room they passed felt hauntingly silent, devoid of the muttering and cries he was accustomed to. His superior halted suddenly.

**“I’ll go in. You stay here.”**  
** “But, sir, I want to help.”** Dimitri had trained to assist his country, not walk alongside those who did and watch.  
**_ “You can help by staying out here. This man is dangerous and if anything goes wrong, I need you to get backup.”_  
“But sir-“  
“You will stay out here! That’s an order.”**  
Dimtri’s eyes fell. He nodded.

The American could hear their bickering. He almost smiled to himself. It was nice to be recognized as important. Even if he couldn’t understand the language.

He heard the mechanical clicks and whirs of the locks falling away. The door swung open.

“Run out of prisoners already, have you?”

“Get up.” The officer said through a thick Russian accent. The American declined to obey.

“Truly, I am glad you came to your senses.”

“I said get up!”

The American tutted. “I don’t appreciate your tone. Is that any way to speak to the man who’s going to solve all of your problems?”  
As he rose to his full height and revealed his scarred face, the sureness in the officer’s stance melted away.

Doctor Brenner chuckled. “That’s what I thought. Now,” he brushed himself off, “let’s get to work.”

~@~

Chapter One  
The Welcome Wagon

~@~

As the car full of giggling teens and loudly singing adults sped past the Welcome to Hawkins sign, Mike Wheeler panicked.

Where the hell was it? He hadn’t used it in months. It had to be down here somewhere.

“Mike! If you don’t hurry up I’m leaving without you.” Nancy yelled from upstairs.

“GIMME A MINUTE!” Mike yelled. Ouch. _Note to self, Mike: Maybe not so loud next time._

Nancy had a point. He was already late. Maybe he should just- _AHA!_

Star Wars IV: A New Hope. Mike grabbed it and ran up the stairs, nearly tripping over his disproportionately long limbs.

It’s quite possible that Nancy’s car and the other car speeding through Hawkins passed each other at some point. Mike wouldn’t have noticed. He was a bit consumed by thoughts. Worries mainly. Which was stupid, right?

It’s not like these people were strangers. These people were his best friends. His best friend and girlfriend? Maybe that was something to worry about. Were they dating?

They hadn’t been. Not for a while. And Mike had accepted that. Okay, he’d _started_ to accept that. But then she’d gone and returned a declaration of love he didn’t even remember making and kissed him. Then she’d left. Just... up and left.

Which, he’d admit, wasn’t her fault. She probably would’ve stayed if she could‘ve. But would that have helped his situation any? It was confusing not seeing her. It might’ve been even more confusing seeing her. That was the whole reason he’d done what he had for thanksgiving.

None of them had said anything about it. Not even Will. _Will_. This was the longest he’d ever gone without seeing Will. It felt wrong. Not necessarily bad all the time. But wrong. It didn’t hurt, not like when Will was in the upside down, or when he’d thought Eleven had died. But it felt like something was missing. A piece of him was off somewhere else in the world. Having new adventures. Adventures he wouldn’t get to be a part of. And he was happy for that piece. But it still felt wrong. _Wrong wrong wrong. _

Nancy nudged his shoulder. “You okay, dork?” She asked, turning into the complex.

Mike nodded. Now wasn’t the time to be worrying about any of that stuff. Now was the time to be worrying about the fact that he was late and Dustin was gonna be up his ass about it.

As Nancy pulled up to the house, Mike opened the door and hopped out.

“Call me if you need a ride home!”

“Nah, I’m good.” Mike failed to mention that the ride he had secured was too young to drive legally and using a car that she’d “fixed” herself. Nancy didn’t need to know that. Those weren’t important details.

He lifted his hand to knock on the door, but it swung forward before he could make contact. His fist, instead, made contact with Dustin’s face.

“You’re late.” Dustin said... or had been saying before Mike popped him in the mouth. “What the hell dude! I bit my tongue!”

“Sorry! I couldn’t find it. Where’s Lucas?” Mike pushed past Dustin, who was holding his tongue between his index finger and thumb as if to examine the damage.

“He’s inside. We’ve been waiting for you for like a half hour!”

~@~

Elle fought the urge to jump slightly as Jonathan slammed the trunk of the car shut.

“That’s the last of ‘em.” Her “brother” said, wiping his hands on his jeans.

“Upstairs?” Elle asked even though she was pretty sure she knew the answer. Jonathan nodded his affirmation and Elle picked up the large suitcase.

As she walked through the house she passed by Joyce talking to the Sinclair’s. Elle kept her eyes straight, pushing down the instinct to eavesdrop. Will bounded down the stairs as she was struggling to get the suitcase up.

“Here, I got it.” Will offered, reaching for the bag.

Elle snatched it back. “I can do it!” She snapped.

Will quirked a brow at her. “I know. But you got it from the car. I can take it up.”

Elle softened and allowed her “twin” to take the bag from her. He hefted it up and began up the stairs.

Elle brushed her increasingly long hair behind her ear and started the walk towards her “mom.”

Elle couldn’t yet bring herself to call these people by these titles. She’d never had a family. The closest she’d ever come was Hopper and... well that was over now.

“Thank you again, Marge. It’s so kind of you to let us stay here.”

“No no it’s really not an issue. Lewis and I couldn’t get out of this trip and I know the kids wanted to spend at least some time with their friends.”

“Well-“

“Joyce?” She interrupted. Joyce turned to her and smiled softly. She looked so tired. Elle wondered if she’d always looked like this. Even before all the things began happening to the Byers family. And just like that she felt guilty. She was the reason anything had ever even happened to the Byers family. And yet there she was: Considered one of them.

“Hi, sweetheart.” Joyce wrapped her lean warm arms around Elle and kissed her on the forehead. Elle’s guilt squirmed in her stomach as she gave a tight lipped smile. “Finished unpacking the car?”

Elle nodded. “Yes. Will is putting the bags upstairs.”  
Joyce opened her mouth to speak but someone else’s voice cut through the air. Mr. Sinclair.

“Erica Ashley Sinclair, just where exactly do you think you’re going?”

Elle whirled around to see Lucas’ little sister opening the door.

“Jen’s house. It’s her birthday.”

“No, ma’am, you are not. You know the rules.” Mrs. Sinclair said sternly, placing her hands on her hips.

“But Lucas is with his stupid friends!” Erica exclaimed.

Lucas’s friends were not stupid. They were very smart. They might be some of the smartest people Elle knew. Dustin built a radio tower and cracked a Russian code last summer. A stupid person could not do that. Elle shoved her hands in her pockets. Stupid. _As if._

“Lucas isn’t grounded. Back to your room.” Mr. Sinclair commanded.

Erica didn’t move. _Hopper would have called her a brat._ Elle fought a smile at that thought, but the happy feeling quickly turned cold. _Hopper._

“Don’t make me say it again! One. Two.” Mr. Sinclair doesn’t get to three before Erica lets out an almost inhuman screech of anger and runs back to her room. The door slammed. Elle was stunned. _Was that what she used to be like?_

“So sorry about that.” Mrs. Sinclair’s voice was chipper once more. “Come on, dear, the trip isn’t going to business itself.”

“We’ll see you when we get back, Joyce.” Mr Sinclair straightened his tie.

“Of course. But speaking of Lucas, where is he? I know the kids would love to see him and-“

“I believe he said something about Steve Harrington’s house with his friends.”

“Max?” Elle asked hopefully.

“Yes, she’s there.” Mrs. Sinclair said, distractedly gathering her things and passing them to her husband to load up the car with.

“And Mike?”

“Yes, him too.”

“Dust-“

“Yes, dear, they’ll all be there.” Mrs. Sinclair said cutting the questions short as she bustled out the door.

Elle turned back to Joyce. “Can I go?” She asked.

Joyce smiled softly at her. She ran her hand through Elle’s hair and nodded. “Sure.”

“YES! Thank you!” Elle hugged Joyce and bounded out of the house. “Jonathan, walk with me?”

~@~

“I can’t believe you forgot the Twizzlers.” Mike snapped.

They were Will’s favorite. Mike had saved up for them and everything. Lucas had _ONE_ job. Keep them at home so Holly wouldn’t eat them, and bring them today. Okay two jobs. _BUT THEY WEREN’T VERY HARD JOBS._  
How were they supposed to show they put any thought into this damn party without the fucking twizzlers.

“In case you didn’t notice, I’m not the only one who forgot stuff.” Lucas said, folding his arms over his chest and glaring at their curly haired friend.

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Dustin asked defensively.

“I’m just saying, what kind of party is it if there aren’t any damn balloons?!”

“We’ve gone over this! STREAMERS ARE A PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE PARTY DECORATION!”

While Lucas and Dustin bickered Max nudged Mike.

“Of all movies, why Star Wars?” She asked.

“It’s their favorite.” Mike said. His mind wandered to all the nights the party had spent in the basement. Will curled up next to Mike as they laughed rewatching it for probably the sixth time. El’s eyes lit up the first time she witnessed someone use the force.

“My favorite movie is footloose.”.

The room fell silent as all the teens whirled around to face the newcomer.

“El!” Max cried, launching herself forward, tackling her best friend in a bone crushing hug.

~@~

Lewis and Marge’s bedroom was big. Very roomy. Joyce was certain she’d feel too lonely and cold to sleep in here alone. Oh well. That was a problem for later.

Joyce placed her suitcase on the bed and listened to the noise from the hallway as she unzipped it.

“You look different.” Erica said.

Joyce heard Will chuckle; she could picture his smile.

“I guess I do. You’ve gotten taller.”

“And you’re still short, nerd.”

Erica’s door slammed. Joyce smiled softly. Taking a deep calming breath, she returned to unpacking.

Hang up. Hang up. Drawer. Hang up. Drawer. Wear tonight. Hang u- _this shirt_.

Joyce clutched at the fabric. Why didn’t she remember packing this shirt? Why has she packed this shirt? _Why would she have done this to herself?_

This was _Hopper’s_ shirt. He’d worn it just last summer. _He’d worn it for what was meant to be a date. _He-

Brrrring.

Joyce’s soul just about left her body.

“I’ll get it!” Will yelled from somewhere in this too large house.

Joyce bunched up the shirt and stuffed it back into the suitcase. _Don’t do this to yourself, Joyce. There’s no point in dwelling on all that_. Hopper was all about moving on. Hopper would _want_ her to move on.

“Moooom?” Will yelled.

“Yeah?”

“That was Elle. She wants us to pick something up for her before we get to Steve’s.”

~@~

“Do you think Harvard would be impressed by my summer long employment at scoops? I’m running out of actual achievements.”

Steve glanced down from where he was splayed on the counter of the empty Family video. Robin sat, legs crossed, against a display case. She was chewing on her pencil. _Grody__._

“It’s worth a shot.” Steve said returning to his application forms and letter drafts. “How do I make the fact that I won my first fight last summer seem impressive?”

“Send in a picture of yourself. I’m sure they’ll figure it out on their own.”

“Hardy har har.”

The bell above the door chimed. First customer all day.

“Not it!” Robin called.

“Not- dang it.” It wasn’t fair. Steve had been distracted.

Why did all of the cool stuff he’d ever done need to be a secret? If he told this stupid school that he’d uncovered evil Russians under the fucking mall they’d let him in. He rolled off the counter as Mrs. Byers set down a vhs in his place.

“Footloose.” Steve observed. “That’s a fun one.”

“I’m actually heading to your house. Dropping off Will. El asked for it.”

“That’ll be 75 cents.” Steve said inputting the transaction. “Yeah I told Dustin he could use my house for a party. Said he wanted space and my parents aren’t home so...”

Mrs. Byers finished fishing around in her pockets. “Right. I expected them to be— here you go—“ she handed him two quarters, and three dimes. “at Mike’s house. I mean... knowing them they’ll probably end up spending the night there.”

“And you’d let El and Will stay on their own? Even after....”

“El can handle herself.” Joyce replied.

Steve nodded. Of course he noticed she hadn’t accounted for Will, but he wasn’t about to press. It wasn’t his place and-

“And well... I’ll have to let him grow up eventually, won’t I?”

The silence became rather stale and awkward. How was he supposed to respond to that?

“Would... uh... would you like to buy some candy with that?”

Robin, still siting next to him, snickered. _Nice one, Steve._

“Where’s the candy?”

Steve pointed to the box next to the register. “Right..” the very empty box next to the register. “there? I could’ve sworn...”

“It’s alright. I should get going anyway. El must be getting antsy”

“Right... right. Well, here’s your change.” One nickel.

Mrs. Byers hummed her thanks as she collected the movie and left the store.

Steve turned around to face Robin. He picked up the box.

“Did you seriously eat the rest of the chocolate bars?” He asked.

Robin looked up from her papers, placing them aside. “You and I both know that if one of us were going to steal store property, it’d be you, Mr. I-can-just-take-one-copy-of-Terminator-no-one-will-notice.”

“One time!” Steve groaned. “That was one time!” God, why was she always bringing that up?!

Robin gave him a shit eating grin and returned to her paperwork.

“Seriously though, it wasn’t you?” He knew for a fact that box had been full at closing last night. He didn’t see any transactions on the list stating the rest of them had been sold on their off shift.

“Nope.”

“Huh...” he remarked, placing the box back down. “Weird.”

~@~

Jonathan’s teeth chattered as he walked. He should have worn another jacket. He figured Hawkins was south, so it’d be less cold. He was wrong. It was equally cold.

_Why on earth did Nancy want to spend a second more than necessary outside? _They could’ve met up at her house. Shared some warm tea or coffee or cocoa or whatever Nancy had in stock and taken a nice well deserved nap together on her sofa. But no. They had to meet at the park.

The wind stung his eyes. He blinked. Was he getting close to the bench? It was kind of hard to remember after six months or so.

“Jonathan!”

He stumbled back, wrapping his arms around the girl stuck to his chest. Any bitterness he’d felt at the cold melted away. Nancy. She was here. She was in his arms again. He smiled into her hair. “Hey, Nance.”

Nancy freed Jonathan from her grip and grabbed his hand, guiding him back to where she’d been waiting.

“Why’d we have to meet outside? It’s freezing.”

“Because it’s where she asked to meet us. Which means she couldn’t have gotten lost because she picked the meeting spot.”

“Who couldn’t have gotten lost?”

Nancy sat down on a bench with a boy already seated. The boy looked younger. Not quite as young as mike or Will, but certainly younger than Nancy.

“Who’s this?” Jonathan asked.

The boy stared up at him with big brown eyes. His dark curly hair swept this way and that with the wind. He was kinda... twitchy.

“Um... hi!! I’m... uh... I’m Nick. Nick Stewald.” Nick stuck out a mittened hand for Jonathan to shake.

“Nick helps me with the school paper.” Nancy explained as Jonathan shook Nick’s kind of shaky hand. Either this kid was really scared or really cold. It was hard to tell. “We got assigned to write a few joined pieces over winter break and I figured since you would already be in town, who better to help us than Mr. Big Time Paper himself? But then Ms. Flannery didn’t show up and-“

“Big time paper?” Nick interrupted.

“Jonathan’s takes pictures for the New York Times.” Nancy smiled, grasping her boyfriend’s hand.

She looked so proud it kind of broke his heart. _He never should have told her. _Now she was expecting good news all the time and life... life just didn’t work like that. His photos were run of the mill, and he was lucky he’d ever gotten one opportunity and-

“It was only a couple of times, Nance.” _Once. Once. Only once. Once wasn’t a couple. It was once._

“And there will be plenty more coming up.” Nancy grabbed his hand. Her hands were so warm it almost burned his. “Your pictures are incredible.”

Jonathan was replying “Right.” Before he could even think. Instinct. Months of pretending everything is great over phone calls to mother and siblings and girlfriend will do that to you. “So where exactly are we going?”

~@~

There are some arguments that need to be had. Arguments so fundamental to the nature of mankind that any group of people will eventually have them, battle them out, and move forward as better humans because of them. This was not one of those arguments.

“No, I know that! I’m just saying IF she still had her powers El could kick Darth Vader’s ass!” Dustin repeated his thesis for about the fifteenth time. The movie played on inside the house, long forgotten in favor of moving outside and watching the two boys debate.

“Darth Vader had been training for years! And the only reason Luke was able to beat him was because they were of the same bloodline.” Lucas shot back.

Mike was almost able to tune them out, so used to their bickering it was nearly second nature, but he gave up when he noticed the movie wasn’t getting the attention it deserved. _Luke Skywalker deserved respect, dammit!_

“Are you saying she couldn’t kick his ass?!” Dustin looked honest-to-god offended. As if Lucas had just set fire to some dog shit on his porch.... _that was a weird analogy, Mike. Where’d that come from?_

“I could kick his ass.” El spoke up. Her voice seemed very serious. Almost dangerous despite her small stature and smile adorning her confused face. Mike felt his lips twitch upward.

El was pretty. She was good looking. Attractive. Her delicate features were nicely proportioned and her style had only improved since they’d first met. Her hair was... it was longer now than it had been before. Back when they’d first met and she was new and exciting and sent shivers down his spine. Her lips seemed to be almost permanently stained pink. He remembered the way the sticky strawberry goop felt on his lips when they kissed. If he thought about it, he missed kissing.

Kissing El had been enjoyable. The first few times had been electric and thrilling. Then things calmed down and it was pleasant. Kissing was nice. And El was nice. And kissing El was nice. _Except for that last time_... well it hadn’t not been enjoyable it had just.... it was different. A bit off. Maybe it was because she was leaving or maybe it was... no that was probably it. What else was there?

Dustin and Lucas continued squabbling and Max caught Mike’s eyes. She made a puppet with her hand and mimed incessant talking. Mike stifled a chuckle.

The door into Steve’s house slid open and the first thing Mike noticed was the music coming from the Walkman headphones. How loud did that music need to be for him to hear Another One Bites The Dust so clearly from this far away? Then Mike felt... well he felt kinda dizzy. Because it was Will but not.

The person he was staring at had Will’s face. The same freckles and beauty marks dusted his coffee cream colored skin. The same eyes the color of moss on maple bark sparkled from behind his fringe. His delicate nose was a cherry on his pale face thanks to the biting cold. But he was different. His jawline was more refined, neck a little thicker where a black choker pressed against it. Mike swallowed. That wasn’t even to mention the hair.

It was the same chestnut color but it was nearly unrecognizable. For as long as Mike had known him, Will had had the same haircut. A shaggy bowl cut. Mike couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen Will’s forehead. Not anymore. His hair was cut comparatively shorter in the back, it actually framed his head rather than dangle down his neck. Most of the front was still long, fwooshed down his new right part and into his eye in a picture perfect skater cut.

Did Will skate now? Is that what he’d been doing these past six months? Hanging out with new skater friends? A shiny chain hanging from Will’s neck caught Mike’s attention. Did his skater friends give him that? What if his skater _girlfriend_ gave him that? Will would have told Mike if he had a girlfriend, wouldn’t he? Well it’s not like Mike had given him very many opportunities what with how little he’d actually contacted them after... the whole thing with Eleven. _God! Focus, Mike!_

Will continued his determined stride towards the group. His Peter Pan boots crunched on the frosty grass. Those didn’t seem like very good shoes to skate in... if anything—_ohmygod this is really not the time._ Will removed his hands from his pockets and waved. His jeans were absolutely covered in paint splatters.

He’d never painted much before. He’d done artwork of course. Will was great at drawing. Everything he drew was great. Mike knew that. Mike’s prized possession was a binder of drawings Will had made for him. His chest did a weird thing when he considered Will might’ve given all the paintings he’d made to his new best friend wherever he lived. What if that guy didn’t even appreciate them? What if he just put them in a bin somewhere and never looked at them again. _Fuck that guy!_

“Damn, Byers!” Max whooped and ran for the boy.

There was another difference. Before he’d been only a little taller than Max. Now he practically towered over her. How tall was he now? Was he as tall as Mike? What if he was taller?

Max practically tackled poor Will and began messing up his hair. The party all started laughing. All but Mike. He sat processing what he was looking at. _Will_. New haircut. _Will_. Leather jacket. How could they even afford that? Was it fake? _Will_. Flannel? Why was he wearing a flannel around his waist? He already had a jacket.... it did look good. _Will_. Obscure band t-shirt. _Will. Will. Will. Oh my god he’d missed Will._ The piece of himself that had been missing was right there. It was so close and Mike felt his whole being gravitating towards it. Like a moth to a flame. But he was frozen to the floor. His brain couldn’t communicate the message of ‘_move dammit_’ to hid body.

Had he been paying attention to anything at all other than his best friend _FINALLY_ returned, he’d have heard the excited chattering coming from his friends, catching up on things from school to comics. Or maybe he’d have noticed El staring up at him curiously. Or maybe he’d have noticed Will walking up to him before it was too late to think of something to say.

“Hi, Mike.” He smiled. _Oh thank fuck his smile was the same._ It almost let Mike ignore the fact that his voice was deeper, or that he barely had to look up at Mike anymore, or that-

“You look different.” The words were tumbling out of his mouth before he’d even had a chance to think about them. He cringed a little. _Not the best welcome home speech, Wheeler. _But Will laughed and hugged him. He felt heat rising up in his cheeks as he hugged back. _Weird... must be the cold._

“Bitchin,” El beamed proudly. “I took Will shopping.”

~@~

“Nance, she’s clearly not home.” Jonathan said. His arms were folded as he leaned against the wall. Nick didn’t know how he wasn’t scared of the spider who probably lived in that large web only a few feet from his head. College guys must just be like that. Brave.

Speaking of not understanding things, there were plenty of things Nick didn’t quite understand about Jonathan. Namely who he was. He knew he was Nancy’s boyfriend. Nick wasn’t _that_ dumb. But who was he? Why was he never in town? How did they meet? Why was he so calm about Nancy practically trying to ram through a poor elderly woman’s door?

“Well, where else would she be?” Nick asked, trying to keep from folding in on himself. Nick trusted Nancy and Nancy clearly trusted this guy. So there was no need to be nervous. Easier said than done. But still.

“I dunno. The store? There are plenty of places in town.”

Proof enough that Jonathan wasn’t a resident of Hawkins. Or at the very least, he hadn’t been one in a while. There was absolutely nothing to do in this town. Why else would Nick take up _newspaper clubs_ of all things after he moved here? All due respect, it certainly wasn’t to look at Ms. Flannery an extra five hours a week.

Nancy ceased her fervent knocking and huffed. “No! That doesn’t make any sense. Ms. Flannery has never missed a meeting before.” She folded her arms and attempted to peer through the front window.

That was true. Flannery had always been quite the punctual lady. Nick still remembered vividly the day Keith got kicked out for being late. It had been sort of sad. Sure, Keith wasn’t a great human being, and he looked funny and smelled funnier, but he at least pulled his weight. That was more than could be said for most people in the club.

Nancy’s eyes brightened suddenly in a way that made Nick nervous. Her eyes did that right before hatching an idea that always seemed to get Nick in trouble. _The gossip column fiasco. Locker-room-gate._ She bent down and moved the flowerpot from its perfectly fine position on the windowsill. After a moment or two she moved it back and stood upright, grinning triumphantly. A small copper item glimmered between her fingertips.

Realization dawned on Jonathan quicker than it did Nick. _The spare key._

“Nancy, that’s a bad idea!” Jonathan warned, finally pushing himself away from his place on the wall. He was much taller when he wasn’t slouching. Nick was so busy observing him he almost didn’t catch the implications of the next thing he said. Almost. “Don’t you remember what happened the last time we broke into an old lady’s house?”

“You guys broke into an old lady’s house?” Nick interrupted. It was far too easy to imagine Nancy doing something like that. _Anything for a good story. That was the motto wasn’t it? _But Jonathan? Well, Nick supposed be really was making assumptions about a man he didn’t really know. But Jonathan just looked so sweet and tired and it was hard to believe that-

“Yes, I do. And I seem to recall we saved an old lady’s life that night, Jonathan!”

“You guys saved an old lady’s life?!”

Wow okay. Sharp turn. Nick had been under the impression he and Nancy had grown pretty close but apparently she still had a lot of stories left to tell him.

“It’s a long story, Nick.” She waved him off.

Nick had _plenty_ of time. He wanted to say that. He wanted to get the details. But Nancy and Jonathan seemed to be having a telepathic urgent conversation, so maybe not the right time.

“The point is,” She said, seemingly steeling herself, “We’re going in.”

Key met lock. If only Nick had known how much his world was about to shift.

~@~

Joyce Byers was the kind of person who would rather die than take two trips to bring groceries into a house. Her arms were absolutely full of paper bags as she wobbled up the steps to the door. Now.... how to get it open?

The issue fixed itself when the door swung open. All Joyce could see of Erica over the piles of bags in her arms was her hair. Colorful beads keeping two puffs of hair in place.

“Great. Help me put this in the kitchen.” Joyce dumped about half the bags into her arms. Erica grunted in protest, but thankfully didn’t drop any bags.

Joyce shook the ache out of her hands and began to get to work putting ingredients away and organizing the things needed for spaghetti. Erica went for the door again.

“Where are you going?” Joyce asked, turning around swiftly. _Mother’s instinct. Third eye. Superpower._

“I’m goin’ to Jen’s” Erica said, hand on her hip. “Where are you goin?”

“Erica, you know I can’t let you go anywhere. You’re still grounded and your mom would-“

“Momma doesn’t need to know.” Erica pleaded.

Joyce honestly would’ve liked to say yes. Be alone in the house for a few moments. Reflect on being back. But then again. That might not have been such a good idea. This Joyce was moving forward. This Joyce knew how to move on.

“I can’t.”

“I have rights! You can’t just put me on house arrest without a fair trial!”

“Your parents held the trial. You’re on house arrest. I’m the warden. The answer is no.”

Erica stared Joyce down for a few tense moments then retreated. “Fine!” She yelled as she stomped up the stairs. The door slammed.

_Preteens_.

Joyce grabbed one specific bag made her way to the couch. It was soft. Very soft. She felt like she was sinking in it. It was much nicer than her old couch. The bag crinkled in her hand. She dumped the contents onto the counter.

One pack of camels. One red lighter. One separate receipt.

Joyce fumbled with the lighter. It had been forever since she’d had a proper smoke. She needed a good cigarette now more than ever.

When it was successfully lit, she took a long drag. Savoring the way it slunk down her throat. In was familiar. Comforting. Until it wasn’t.

Suddenly she was in high school again. _Skipping sixth period. Hiding under the bleachers. It was cold out, but he was warm. He was so warm. She could feel the heat radiating off of him from where she stood. She reached for the cigarettes, but he held them above his head. Out of her reach. Screw him for being so damn tall. He smirked at her. He was handsome. And, God, did he know it. Joyce refuses to give him the reaction he might’ve gotten from any other girl. She pouted._

_“Y’know, you could bring your own for once.” He said softly. He was always soft with Joyce. Like she was a special sort of creature. Someone he didn’t want to spook. Joyce didn’t need gentle. Lonnie wasn’t gentle. Joyce could handle things that weren’t gentle._

_“Yeah, but it’s more fun to just take yours.” She stood on her toes and reached up._

_She grabbed the box, brining it back down to her level, and he let her. He let her but he didn’t let go. Their hands were very close._

_“Here’s an idea,” His smirk was fading. He still exuded an easy confidence, but his eyes were.... they might’ve looked nervous. “How ‘bout we share?”_

_For some reason, this thought nearly knocked the air out of her. Which was stupid. They always shared. But for a minute she’d thought he meant...._

_“Share?”_

_Hopper leaned in close. So close. Their noses could had touched. It wouldn’t have taken much. He leaned in close and lit a single cigarette._

_“Yeah.” He held it between them. “Share.”_

Joyce coughed out the smoke and stared at the offending cigarette. She snuffed it out. 

~@~

As Elle came out of the house with two mugs warming her hands, Lucas dunked Max in the pool. She came up laughing so hard it became a coughing fit. Elle smiled to herself. They seemed happier than they were before. She wondered if they’d broken up any more times since she’d been gone. Max had never mentioned another break up with Lucas. Maybe they’d figured out how to be good.

“C’mon, Will!” Dustin called. There was really no need to shout, Will was only sitting a few feet from him. Peter Pan boots discarded, jeans rolled up, legs splashing in the heated water. “Come in! I wanna beat Lucas’s ass in chicken.”

Elle laughed as Lucas splashed Dustin. They both turned to Will expectantly, but he shook his head.

“I’m alright here.”

Those in the pool refused to take no for an answer. _Persistence. Her word of the day calendar said that was persistence._

They chanted and chanted until Will finally stood up, removed his jacket and flannel and jumped in.

Elle giggled and held back a bit of a happy shriek as the water splashed at her legs. Well... the second hot chocolate had been for Will, but he seemed busy now. Elle’s eyes travelled to Mike. He was sitting alone on the other side of the pool. Bone dry. Watching. She’d been upset with Mike for some time while she was way. _Olive branch?_

She made her way over to him, extending the cup of warm liquid kind of like a shield.

He looked up and smiled. “Thanks.”

“You are not swimming.” Elle noted.

“It’s December.” He said as he took the drink. “I don’t wanna get sick.”

The others didn’t seem to be worried. It was unlike Mike to not want to join in on the fun. Wasn’t it? Elle had to admit she didn’t really know.

It was quiet. Not really though. Their friends were quite noisy. But they were quiet.

“You didn’t come for thanksgiving.” She spoke softly. Finally saying what she’d been thinking.

“Yeah. I know I’m sorry I just.... I dunno.”

Mike was so confusing. Sometimes Elle wondered if even Mike understood Mike. It seemed impossible to make sense of the intricate tangles of thoughts in Mike’s head that must make him act in the way he did. But Elle had made peace with that. Or at least.... she was trying to.

“It’s nice.” Elle tried again to make conversation. “Seeing you again. All of us being together.”

And it was. It was nice. She’d missed her friends. That wasn’t to say she hadn’t met new people she liked. She had. But they weren’t these people. She’d missed these people. _Specific. That was a good word._ She’d missed these specific-

“Are we together?” Mike blurted out.

When Elle turned to look at him he was looking anywhere but at her. He did this often. He’d say something and move around a lot. _Fidget_. Not quite meet her eyes. Elle noticed things. She didn’t always know what they meant. But she noticed things.

“Like together together? The way we were before...” he trailed off, so Elle thought it was her turn to speak.

“Mike-“ Apparently she was wrong. Mike pressed on.

“Because we weren’t. For like.... nearly four months we weren’t. And that was fine! But then you kissed me and-“

“Mike.”

“And you said... you said some stuff. But then you left! So I-“

“Mike!” Elle snapped. Even without her powers she felt like sometimes there was a change in the air around her. Like the world knew she wasn’t to be trifled with. Mike shut up.

Mike had been the first person to show genuine kindness and trust to Elle. Mike had been her first friend. Mike had been her first kiss. _Before she’d even known what a kiss meant, she’d kissed Mike_. Mike had been the one she’d thought about when watching all those soap operas. Mike had been the one who’d called her every night for 353 days. Mike had been the person who’s taught her how to dance... or at least tried to teach her. _He hadn’t really known himself._ Mike had been the first person she’d found comfort in physical contact with. Mike had been her safety. Mike had been her guide. Mike had been the first person to say he loved her. Mike had been the first person she’d ever proclaimed to love. Mike had been the first person to break her heart.

That _must_ have been what it was when he didn’t show up for thanksgiving. Elle and Will had been prepping all week. Joyce had even gotten Elle a door stopper that kept the door open three inches. But he hadn’t shown up. _He hadn’t even called._ For a whole week. He hadn’t called. Will seemed disappointed. But he didn’t seem surprised. Elle was shocked. She was angry. She was devastated. Mike was the first person to tell her that friends didn’t break promises. Did boyfriends? Did people in love break promises? That seemed stupid! _People in love should not break promises._

Elle didn’t know who to turn to. Will was her first instinct. They shared everything. _A room. Snacks. Friends. Bullies. _But they also shared this pain. And Elle could tell Will didn’t want to talk about it. He hadn’t even tried to call Mike. He was ignoring this. Elle wasn’t going to force him to face it.

Jonathan knew a lot of things about love. And about loving someone far away. And even about loving a Wheeler. But he seemed so happy. He was only home for a week or two before he had to return to school. Elle wanted him to be happy, and she knew him well enough to know he wouldn’t be at peace until he believed everyone in the Byers house was happy. So she didn’t say anything.

Joyce was the only one left. Elle was thankful for Joyce. She kept her warm and made her food and gave great hugs when nights were too hard. So she talked to Joyce. She talked about how she’d only truly bonded with Mike and Max before they’d left. She talked about how she felt about Mike. About his kindness. About his protectiveness. About the fact that he’d stood her up.

They’d talked about it nearly every night for a long while. And Elle realized a few things. She realized she barely knew who _she_ was. She realized that was a bad position to be in when trying to connect with someone else. She realized that their timing was absolute shit. A week was not long enough to fall in love. And she realized that the world is a very big place. With people other than Mike Wheeler in it. Elle hadn’t fallen for anyone else. But she reminded herself it was a possibility. She loved Mike. _She’d told him that._

“I was not ready.” Elle said. Mike’s face was a mask of disconnected confusion. “I thought I was. I wanted to be. For you. I wanted to be.”

Mike still said nothing. He didn’t meet Elle’s eyes. _So frustrating. So confusing._ How long would it take before Mike made sense to her?

“But I’ve had time to think.” Elle said.

Mike finally spoke again. “Six whole months.” He chuckled dryly.

“Six whole months.” Elle agreed.

The silence between them wasn’t companionable, but it wasn’t hostile either. It simply was. Until Mike broke it.

“And? What did you think?”

Elle had thought about an awful lot while doing her realizing. But mainly she’d thought about other couples. _About Lucas and Max. About Nancy and Jonathan. About the old lady and her husband across the street._

“Nancy and Jonathan... they talk.” She said, Mike’s eyes at last met hers. He still seemed like he was somewhere far away instead of right in front of her. If she considered it, he felt like that a lot. “When we dated, did we talk?”

Mike answered swiftly. But even as he talked he was shaking his head a firm no. _He knew the answer._ “Of course we did. We-“

“Really talk.”

This silenced him. The “simply was” silence returned. He sighed.

“No.... I guess not. It was mostly kissing.”

“Kissing is good.” Elle smiled and nudged his shoulder. He smiled too, but it was sad. The smile seemed _damp_. There was probably a better word for it, but Elle didn’t know it yet. She would eventually. She liked to imagine she’d know all the words eventually. And the next time she was in a relationship she’d like to use all the words. “Talking is better.”

There was another thing Elle had come to realize. Talking to someone and having them listen was so _so_ great. Sometimes after a long day at school, Elle would walk around the small Byers home repeating the same story to anyone who would listen. And they all would. It was wonderful. She and Mike had never been like that.

”We were not good.” She shook her head.

Mike refused to look at her. He stared stoically at their friends in the pool. Will yelped as he fell from Dustin’s shoulders. Max and Lucas cheered in victory. Mike’s legs bounced as he worried at his lip.

“Do you hurt?” Elle asked. She didn’t want him to hurt. She had hurt. _She’d done enough hurting for the both of them._

“A little.” Mike flinched and changed his answer, still shaking his head. “Kinda.” He winced again. His face contorted into something confused and angry. “I don’t know.... but you’re right.”

_It looked like Elle wasn’t the only one puzzled by Mike._

“We were not good then.” Elle stated again, turning over the thoughts in her head. “Could we be good now?”

Mike simply shrugged.

They could try. Why _wouldn’t_ they try? Elle didn’t know what it was like to love anyone the right way. Why wouldn’t she figure it out with Mike? With Mike who had been her first friend. First boyfriend. First kiss. Didn’t it make sense that he’d be her first love as well?

Elle began reaching for his hands, hoping to intertwine their fingers like old times. But before she could reach him, he was being scooped up by Dustin and Lucas.

“Hey!” He yelped as they pulled him off the lawn chair. Dustin grabbed him by the ankles and he and Lucas began swinging Mike.

“No. No! Don’t you dare! Put me do-“ with a splash they released Mike into the pool. He rose to the surface sputtering and spitting out water. He looked like a wet dog, his hair clinging to his forehead.

“Screw you.” He grumbled 

~@~

Nancy forced the taste of bile back down her throat, shivering although it was quite warm in the house, especially with Jonathan’s arms wrapped around her. The blood spattered on the floor was drying into a much darker color than it had been when they’d walk in to see it. It wasn’t that large an amount, but it was certainly enough to be worrying. Especially in Hawkins. Almost anything was enough ground to worry in Hawkins. Even if most people living there didn’t know that.

“It’s Christmas break, Wheeler, the lady’s probably on vacation.” The officer was sickeningly patronizing. They always were to her. Never mind the fact she was usually right. They weren’t allowed to know that. Jonathan held her tighter to his chest in an attempt to soothe.

“But what about the blood?!”

_People didn’t just go on vacation and leave wet blood spatters on their nice hardwood flooring_.

“She’s got a cat, doesn’t she?”

“I don’t see how a cat has anything to do with this!” Nancy pulled away from Jonathan and placed her hands on her hips like her mother did when attempting to intimidate her father.

“The cat probably- HEY! Don’t touch that, kid!”

Nancy turned her attention to sweet _stupid_ Nick, who had his index finger poised to dip into the blood puddle. Which in itself was obviously odd. Most people don’t attempt to touch puddles of what they know to be blood. But Nick was about ninety percent of Nancy’s impulse control once Jonathan was gone. Under normal circumstances, he would _NOT_ be the one about to touch a bodily fluid for a story. Nick quickly shook his head and sprung back up.

“Sorry.” He said, rubbing the back of his neck and stepping away from the puddle.

“There don’t appear to be any signs of a struggle. There’s no car in the driveway, and she has a cat. It probably just killed a bird or something. Cats are weird.”

As if on cue the cat slunk out of its cat condo and onto the floor, batting a paw in the air and hissing at Nick.

Nancy knew cats were weird. But weird was exactly what she was worried about.

~@~

Will spit toothpaste into the sink and rinsed his mouth. The same flavor of bubblegum toothpaste had been stationed on the left side of this sink since he was five years old. _Some things never change. _As he stood up straight to look at himself in the mirror he noted that he was no longer one of those things.

He’d chopped off the bowl cut, changed his clothes, and given away his DnD kit. He’d been scared of change. But he’d figured he might as well just get it all over with when they left Hawkins. Rip off the bandaid while he was far away from the very thing that made him want to stay the same.

He looked at his face closely, running a hand over his features. What was that noise? There was a low humming sound, a buzzing at the base of his head. It almost sounded like an odd garbled whisper. A song. _A call_. He shook his head.

He was being crazy. The door was closed. There’s no way he could hear his friends whispering. Especially not with the faucet still on. He stared at the water, transfixed as the buzzing running through his spine seemed to travel to the tips of his fingers. The air around him felt heavy and staticky as he smothered a slight panic in his chest. Maybe they shouldn’t have come back here. _Hawkins was a bad luck charm. _Maybe-

“Will?”

The buzzing suddenly ceased, the air around Will returning to normal as he whirled around to view Elle.

“Are you okay?” She shut the door behind her, closing the two of them in the small bathroom.

Will turned back to the sink. “Yeah.” He nodded, shutting off the faucet. “I’m fine. I just...” he didn’t quite know what to say. ‘_I just had a small panic attack because even though I like to think I’m finally growing and moving on I’m still just a scared little kid._’

To be completely honest, if he was going to admit that to anyone in this house it would be Elle. But sometimes he felt like he didn’t have to admit things to Elle. _She would just know. _Even though she didn’t have her powers anymore... she knew a lot of things. The kids at school had referred to her and Will as the twins from “The Shining.” That was a pretty cool idea, honestly. And Elle proved she knew Will better than to believe him when she spoke up again.

“You lie.” She sighed. She wasn’t accusing him. She never did. She never really needed to. She was just prompting him to tell the truth. Usually she needn’t do it more than once, but Will turned back to the mirror and ran a hand through his fringe.

Elle walked up behind him and reached up to rest her chin on his shoulder. “Brothers,” she poked his cheek, causing him to smile softly, “don’t lie.”

“I don’t remember that being in the brother contract.” He said, finally relaxing, turning to her and leaning against the sink.

“Fine print.” She suggested. “Read it.”

Will scoffed at her imitation of some dumb soap opera she and his mom liked to watch on Wednesday nights, but still he smiled. If anything good came out of this entire horrible experience it was Elle.

“What’s wrong?” She asked, sobering up a bit.

“I just felt something. It was... it was just weird is all.”

“The mind flayer?” She leaned in, eyebrows knitted together.

“No. It was different. Plus it was probably nothing. It was over really quickly and y’know...”

Judging by the look on her face, Elle did not know.

“Hawkins just tends to make everyone feel a little...”

“Skittish?” She supplied.

“Yeah. Skittish.” He smiled. “Good job.”

Elle grinned back at him. She’d come a long way with her vocabulary. For Christmas Will had even gotten her a-

“I am not skittish.” She said proudly, a smug smirk on her lips.

“Not yet.”

Elle made an offended noise and Will attempted to step away as his “sister” lunged for him but he was too late. She was tickling his sides and shouting over his laughter.

“I am not skittish! Say it! Say I am not skittish!”

Lucas stared at the closed door in amusement and slight horror. “What is happening in there?!”

“Either she’s torturing him, or they’re bonding. It’s hard to tell with these things.” Dustin responded sagely, not ever breaking concentration on the card tower he had been building.

~@~

“Make sure you lock the door.” Robin said, popping another stick of gum into her mouth.

“How dumb do you think I am?” Steve scoffed, shutting off the lights.

She didn’t. _She really didn’t._ And sometimes she wondered if she was the only one who didn’t. But she was certainly one of the only ones who’d seen Steve at his best. He was intelligent in his own way. Smart enough to recognize music from the Indiana flyer over a crackling radio recording.

“You don’t wanna know the answer to that, furball.” Robin leaned against the window to the door, in retrospect that probably wasn’t a great idea. They hadn’t cleaned the windows like a week. _Gross_.

“Furball?”

“Yeah. Your hair is like... really fluffy. So furball.”

“You’re slacking in the nickname department.” He chuckled.

“Gimme a break. I can’t be great at every aspect of being your only friend, Harrington.” Robin pushed herself away from the window, tossing Steve the keys.

“You are so not my only friend!”

Robin smirked. “Oh I’m sorry let me rephrase: your only friend your age.”

“That’s-“ Steve stopped his dissent and chuckled. “Yeah that’s fair.”

Robin smiled and scrunched up her nose. “I’ll see you tomorrow, dingus.” She called over her shoulder, mounting her bike and riding away for the night.

“Goodnight, Buckley.” Steve called after her.

He grinned and shook his head as he set about locking the doors. It was no mystery as to why he’d fallen for her. _She was so great_, but she was honestly probably better like this. As a friend. A _real_ friend. Probably his first one. Other than Dustin of course. But Robin was different. She was-

The streetlights went out. Steve’s heart jumped to his throat. Before he could break and call out for Robin, the lights flickered back on.

Come on, Steve. You’re practically a grown man. _Cool it._

~@~

He grunted, scrambling further back into the cover of cut vines. The creature sniffed the air, searching for its misplaced meal. Elle felt his fear as the demodog neared his hiding place. Her breath hitched in rhythm with his as the slimy monster came closer and closer to his face. She wanted to scream, to help, to do something. _Anything. Anything at all_. But she was frozen in place. _Paralyzed_.

The monster backed away from the vines and that’s when the man sprang forth. He jumped on the otherworldly beast, hands positioned at the base of the neck. The creature bucked and grunted but it couldn’t shriek or bite. He was out of reach, the positioning of his large hands kept the flowery face of the carnivorous horror clamped shut. With a sickening crunch the animal went limp. Elle watched as Hopper stood up, paused, and seemed to look _right_ at her.

She could have _sworn_ they locked eyes. She tried to speak. But she still couldn’t. Tears welled up in her eyes. Hopper returned to the task at hand, pulling the demodog into his makeshift nest. She tried to scream. She could feel her throat going raw, but she couldn’t hear a thing. Still... she screamed.

If anyone had been awake in the Wheeler’s basement they would have seen a not unfamiliar but ever worrying sight. Jane Ives, 011, El Hopper, Elle Byers: eyes closed, face pained, a stream of ruby red blood running from her nose.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. Comments are my lifeblood and help me write faster. I take prompts btw.


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